Korea Credit Data raises over $35 mn from Pavilion, GS, KB Bank

South Korea-based fintech firm Korea Credit Data (KCD) has raised around 40 billion won ($36 million) from Singapore-based private equity firm Pavilion Capital, GS Holdings, Kakao Ventures, KT Investment and KB Bank, the company announced on Apr. 20.

Leading firms across retail, finance, IT and mobile sectors participated in KCD's funding round as strategic investors. For example, GS Holdings is the parent company of GS Retail, which operates the No. 1 convenience store chain in Korea while KB Bank is the country's leading bank. Both firms made direct investments in KCD instead of participating via separate vehicles.

Also, Temasek Holdings' subsidiary Pavilion Capital, which usually invests in startups via private equity funds, made a $20 million direct investment into KCD.

The Korean fintech firm has been building strategic partnerships with companies at the forefront of their respective industries, such as mobile platform giant Kakao Corp., top credit card firm Shinhan Card and No. 1 landline internet company KT.

So far, KCD has netted around 60 billion won in investments with its enterprise value exceeding 400 billion won ($360 million) in the latest funding round.

Founded in 2017, KCD is the creator and provider of CashNote, business management software for small and medium-sized companies.

Over the past year, the fintech firm has provided various methods of support to small, local businesses such as introducing CashNote Credit Bridge, a business-to-business (B2B) data product that allows financial institutions to incorporate SMEs' operating status in their credit rating.

KCD was also the first company to sell Yellow Umbrella Insurance policies online, alongside offering COVID-19 emergency loans for SMEs.

Through such efforts, KCD was selected as the country’s first data-based collateral loan provider by the Korea Development Bank. The firm was also named a "baby unicorn" by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

Going forward, KCD plans to use the proceeds to tap into new business ventures where it can add more value to local businesses. The company will also actively engage in M&As to boost inorganic growth and increase its talent pool by offering competitive packages and a healthy corporate culture.


Write to Joo-wan Kim at kjwan@hankyung.com
Danbee Lee edited this article.